This is a question which has a variety of different answers, depending on who’s doing the talking.

Artists will talk about the difference between contemporary graphic design and modern graphic design, with an emphasis on some of the art movements sparked by commercial design. They’ll point out how the Art Deco movement started with French cigarette ads and then wax poetically about Andy Warhol and Pop Art.

Most clients who have never spent time working with a graphic designer will say there are only two kinds: The right kind and the wrong kind, and while they couldn’t tell what makes one good and the other bad, they always know it when they see it.

At Peartree, we categorize graphic design based on the primary needs expressed by our clients.

Brand Design — This is the cornerstone of our practice, helping clients craft a visual design that will express your company’s brand compellingly and distinctively. It’s not enough to just stand out from the competition. Today’s marketplace is about getting attention and keeping attention in a world that bludgeons consumers with commercial messages from the moment we wake up to the minute we shut off the nightstand light.

Logo Design — A company’s logo is like a person’s signature — it’s a singular, personal expression of their individualism. We start with a blank piece of paper and a pencil, with the old school approach of illustration and ideation. We use lines and letters, colors and creativity, to create a personality for your brand. Is it whimsical and fun, or serious and mission-focused? Our artists find those feelings through their art and help your brand connect with customers.

Web Design — One of the mistakes many outside our business make is thinking that Web design is about bits and bytes. It’s not — it’s a marketing project that is driven by creative graphic design. That’s why we are more proficient at this discipline than most. We understand that Web design is a combination of disciplines that form the DNA of good, sticky, consumer-driven Websites.

Graphic Design — This is often used as a catch-all term, but we think of it more as a place to categorize more traditional print ad, brochure and signage design. There are few things more difficult for clients than trying to figure out what to put in their print ads, or what backdrop they want for the big trade show that year. These are often mission-critical graphic design projects, and they all sit squarely in our team’s wheelhouse.

Marketing — Yep, marketing is the one art form that ties everything together. Art does not drive marketing. Instead, marketing is the glue that holds every graphic design project together. The Mona Lisa is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant works of art in human history, but it doesn’t sell anything. Today’s companies need their marketing messages to live and breathe through their brand’s graphic design. Moreover, all the logos, ads, billboards and Website designs need to flow in an underlying current that communicates those same messages in a multitude of ways. Marketing is not just an art form — it is THE art form that governs everything we do.